Turkish court: There is no Gulen terror organization


Date posted: October 2, 2016

The 2nd Criminal Court in the southern province of Hatay rejected an indictment prepared about the Fethullah Gülen Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), a term used by the Turkish government to describe the Gülen movement, saying that there is no such a terrorist organization officially identified.

Office of Hatay Chief Public Prosecutor prepared an indictment about N.K. who is currently under arrest over charges of being member to (FETÖ) and Parallel State Structure (PDY).

Judges unanimously voted against the indictment and rejected it, citing that there is no officially designated terrorist organization such as (FETÖ). The judges also said reference to use of ByLock application by N.K. cannot be accepted as evidence of terrorist organization membership.

The court ruling may set a precedent for similar cases given government’s massive purges and crackdown targeting the movement. But when two judges decided to release police officers and chairman of a television channel last year over lack of concrete evidence for wrongdoing, top judicial body HSYK dismissed them. The judges were later jailed over ruling to release detained police officers.

How the government will react to the decision by Hatay court remains to be seen.

The government blames Gülen for the coup attempt on July 15. The US-based Islamic scholar rejects any link to the attempted coup. Since July, the government has either dismissed or sacked more than 100,000 public officials over alleged links to the movement.

Source: Turkish Minute , October 2, 2016


Related News

Misrepresentation of Fethullah Gülen in English-language media

The language in general and the way certain politically significant words are used in some of this media coverage are somewhat problematic in the sense that they fail to present the full picture about Gülen, if not deliberately create doubts and prejudices about him.

Bank Asya: Battle for survival against a presidential onslaught

Not all banking collapses are alike or lead to extinction. Some are caused by systemic, catastrophic events such as the global financial crisis of 2008, while others are caused by idiosyncratic exposure to geopolitical factors. Bank Asya, Turkey’s largest private participation bank, is currently in the midst of the latter and is potentially edging toward disintegration.

Education [for Kurds] in mother tongue

The Wise People Commission has prepared a report on its two months of work and submitted it to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. What does Turkey — east and west — think about the settlement? What are the basic expectations and demands? How will concerns that the country could be partitioned be eliminated? Will Turkey […]

Independent deputy says there may be an attempt to pin political murders on Gülen movement

İlhan İşbilen, an independent deputy for İzmir, has said some sections of society are part of a “dirty scenario” that aims to make sure the Gülen movement, a faith-based grassroots social initiative, is uttered in the same breath as extrajudicial political killings.

Does Erdogan really want Gulen in Turkey?

General assumption is that Erdogan is indeed playing a cynical game with the Gulen issue, and also involving the United States in this, in a populist effort aimed at his own constituency in the lead-up to the presidential elections in August, where he is expected to run.

Corruption investigation: Questions that will hound PM Erdoğan

Everyone is wondering now what is behind the corruption investigation, and the first “suspect” to come to many minds is the Islamist Gülen movement. Tensions between this group and the AKP have been rising over the years, and boiled over recently due to the prep-school issue – a matter that has received wide media coverage.

The Gülen movement denies this but the vitriol flying between daily Zaman, which is close to Gülen, and Yeni Şafak, which is staunchly pro-AKP, is enough to give one a sense of the bitter struggle involved.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Turkey coup attempt: Number of people detained passes 26,000 amid international concern over crackdown

Kimse Yok Mu reaches out to orphans in Mongolia

A Case Study In How Lobbyists For Turkish Government Manipulate The American Media on Gulen Issue

Liberia: Turkish School to Remain Open

Rising Value of Turkey: ‘The Gülen Movement’

What I Saw In Turkey

Interfaith Forum Ignores Islamic Immigration Questions

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News